Installed capacity of renewable energy has crossed 44 GW: NITI Aayog

New Delhi: The cumulative installed capacity of renewable energy has crossed 44 Gigawatts and "phenomenal progress" has been made in other key infrastructure sectors like aviation and railways, a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi was told today.

At the meeting held to review the functioning of the key infrastructure sectors, NITI Aayog made a presentation, according to a PMO statement.

The meeting was told that in the new and renewable energy sector, the cumulative installed capacity has crossed 44 GW, it said.

Targets have been met for various components, and various projects under Centre and state policies, the statement said.

The Prime Minister was briefed on plans and strategies to further ramp up solar energy production, including through rooftop generation.

The PM in the meeting was also told that 3.5 crore LED bulbs have been distributed during the first quarter of the current financial year.

In the aviation sector, Modi reviewed progress made in key policy areas such as safety and connectivity.

It was noted that eight Indian airports are ranked among the top 5 globally in their respective categories, the statement said.

The Prime Minister was also briefed on steps being taken to further boost regional connectivity, and further improve customer satisfaction indices at airports.

Indian Railways has achieved a target of daily passenger movement of 2.25 crore. 240 unmanned crossings have been eliminated in the first quarter of the current fiscal year, the meeting was told.

In the ports sector, there has been considerable progress in average vessel turnaround time.

With regard to the housing sector, 6.94 lakh rural houses have been completed in the first quarter of the current fiscal year, as compared to a target of 6 lakh houses, the statement said.

Reviewing the progress in the petroleum and natural gas sector, the Prime Minister sought to know the steps being taken to ramp up ethanol blending of petrol.

He was informed that over 15 crore households were covered under Direct Benefit Transfer for LPG in FY16.